Utility tray for beauty shops



Nv.`25, 1941. M M I `2,263,863

UTILITY TRAY'lToR BEAUTY sHoPs Filed Nov. 21, 1938 v ,Inman/19 Y Il 9 is I 16/ ufff? A m 7% f Patented Nov. 25, 1941 UNITE D ST AT E S PAT F F ICE 2,263,863 o UTILITY TRAY Foa BEAUTY SHOPSYV Mable ivr. Wolfe, str-eater', nl.

Appucation'Nevemter 21, 193s; serial No.1 2413561 4 Claims.

This inventiony relates to trays, andI particu= larly to trays for use in beauty parlors arranged to be attached and carried on a' beauty parlor chair; or upon any of the conventional types of chairs commonly used in beauty parlors.

Much timeV is lost during many of the beauty p'arlor operations, and much inconvenience is occasioned to the patrons through the necessity for the operator to turn to a side or rear table and the hair of the patron during the work. The operator must continuously turn and rea-ch for hairpins, cotton, various treating solutions and the iike' used in the various esprances. Fre qtiy the pat-fori is expected to hold many of the articles used during the hair dressing or treating operation, which is frequently a source ofMsoine annoyance. In many cases it is necessary for the operator to hold a portion of the hair in position while reaching for hairpins or Sonie other article to be used thereon.

vAh important object of the invention is to provide an improved tray for the purpose of holding in orderly and arranged form, articles to be used connection with the hair dressing or treating operations and to support these articles at a point or ready accessibility, whereby to facilitate the work decrease the number and diiculty of operationsand avoid annoyance to the patron.

Another object of the invention is the provi'- 'sion of aybeaut'y operators utility tray of novel shape and form. v

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a combined chair and beauty oper- -ators tray of novel and ecient construction `and arrangement.

A still further object of the invention is the provision'of a beauty operators tray so arranged 'as 'to be capable 'of use on a wide varietyof different types'of chairs so as to be adapted gener- ,ally to practically any type of chair now in common use inthe beauty parlors.

v I 'have also aimed to provide a beautyoper ators tray which is adjustable.

v I further aim to provide a beauty operators tray having av novel arrangement of storage space. Other objects and advantages will appear from the following'description and the accompanying drawingQ-in which- Figure l a topvview of a combined chair and tray embodying my invention;

2 is a side View thereof;

APug-s" is a section on the line 3'-3 of Figure 5;

Eig. 4 is a section on-the line 4 4 of Figure 1, and

.dressing operations maybe rested. `surface is bounded by a marginal upstanding Fig. 5 is aback vieweo the upper portion of a chair showingA a tray attached thereto.

The invention is herein shown as combined with a chair of the so-called modern type having a seat portion 6 provided with rear legs 'I, front legs 8, and arms 9 and II, the legs and arms being in this instance formed of pipe or tubing having a decorative coating such as a chromium plate, thelegs andarms being integral and being bent at suitable points to provide the described structure. The arms '9 and II are connected bya tube section I2 to which is attached a back pad I3 commonly curved as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In this instance the back pad is at' 'cached to the tube section I2 by a pair of metal straps I4 and I5 somewhat similar to the con'- ventional pipe straps with the exception that the'upper end of each of the straps is spaced outward from the back of the back pad I3 as shown at I6 to provide sockets for a purpose presently to be described. The side edges of the upper ends of the straps form ears II and I8 which are secured to the back pad I3 by means of screws I9'and 2 I The lower end of each of the straps is likewise attached Yto the back pad by means of a screw 22.

TheY tray proper consists of'v two substantially identical sections connected together at their ends in telescoping fashion so as to form a single tray-structure capable ofy expansion and contraction to fit; around the back and partway along the side of the chair as best shown in Figure l. In this'instance I have shown the tray as being formed of sheetmetaI, but it will be understood that the lsame may be formed of any desired material and may be cast or molded into the .required form. The trayhas a flat top surface V23 formed on an arc so as to curve along the back of the chair and partway along the sides thereof, the 'surface being relatively long and narrow so that its presence between the chair proper and the operator standing behind the chair does not materially interfere with the 4movements `or' the .posture of the operator, and .yetV provides a resting surface both at the rear of the'patrons head andalong the sides thereof upon which the various 4articles used in the hair The top but outwardly flared edge 24 which serves t0 conne the articles positioned on the surface, andto prevent round' articles or the like from rolling or sliding 01T from the surface. The sec- Y tion 25 of the tray overlaps the section'26 of the 55. tray inthearea designatedby the numeral 21,

as will presently more fully appear. Each of the sections has a depending back wall 28 extending from the adjoining ends outwardly to points spaced from the ends of the top surface 23 as shown at 29 and 3|, and also has a bottom wall 32 beneath the top surface 23 and adjoining the lower edge of the walls 28. End walls 33 connecting the top surface 23, the wall 28 and the bottom wall 32 serve to form a box-like structure under the top surface 23, as will best appear from Figs. 3 and 5. Each of the tray sections in this instance has two laterally extending partitions as shown at 34 and 35 to divide the lower box-like structure into a plurality of cubicles for the purpose of storing supplementary articles such as cotton, hair nets, and the like requiring storage in cubicle spaces of this type. In order to retain these articles within the cubicle, flanges such as shown at 36, 31, 38, 39, etc., are provided at the open end of the cubicles extending transversely across the rearward Vends of the partitions 34 and 35 and the bottom walls 32, as best shown in Fig. 5. The sections 25 and 26 are secured together in telescoping fashion as shown in Fig. 4, the top surface of section 26, the bottom wall 32, and the front wall 28 telescoping in between the like members of the section 25. The front wall of section 25 is provided with a slot 4|, and the like member of section 26 with a slot 42 for the reception of a bolt and nut 43 adapted to permit of telescoping movement but to secure the parts rigidly together when the bolt and nut 43 are tightened. The bottom Walls 32 are likewise provided with slots 44 and 45 secured together by means of a bolt 46 for like purposes. By loosening the bolts 43 and 46 the tray structure may be extended or contracted to fit upon chairs of dilerent sizes.

The front wall 28 is provided with spaced brackets 41 and 48 rigidly attached thereto and having depending tongues 49 and 5| arranged to t into the sockets behind the strap portions |6 for the purpose of supporting the tray on the rear of the back pad I3. These parts should be so located as to support the top surface 23 on the tray at about the level of the shoulders of the occupant of the chair so that the top surface 23 will be in close proximity to the head of the patron upon which the operator is working.

In use the tray is attached to a chair, as shown, such that it shall be approximately shoulder height, and thus provides a space for the reception of articles such as hairpins and the like, directly beneath the point at which the work is to be done. Thus, the tray rests between the operator and the work so that it is merely necessary for the operator to drop her hand to the surface of the tray or to the cubicles beneath the tray in order to select the article desired. This almost -entirely eliminates the necessity for a supplementary table upon which these objects are conventionally placed, and eliminates the constant turning of the operators body between such a table and the work. Likewise, it very materially reduces the number of steps required desired or required, the tray may be removed from. its position against the back of the chair and placed in an inconspicuous place without leaving any appreciable evidence on the chair.

By means of the adjustable structure of the tray it may be placed upon a large variety of different types and shapes of chairs and thus may be transferred from one type of chair to another with a minimum of dificulty, and may be produced for marketing without the necessity of providing different sizes and styles to fit different chairs.

While I have thus described and illustrated a specific embodiment of the invention, this has been by way of illustration and I do not wish to be limited except as required by the prior art and the scope of the appended claims, in which, I claim:

1. The combination in a beauty operators chair and tray, of a chair having a back rest, a tray comprising a. top surface member in the shape of a long relativelynarrow arcuate strip, the strip following the shape of the back rest and a portion of the sides of the chair at uniform height, means for supporting the tray on said back rest at substantially the shoulder height of the occupant of the chair, and means for adjusting the length of said tray to accommodate the same to any of a plurality of chairs of different size.

2. A beauty operators tray for attachment to the back of a chair comprising in combination a pair of tray sections arranged to intert at their ends in telescoping relation, each of said sections having a top portion providing a top surface to support objects to be used in the treatment of the hair, an arcuate box-like structure depending beneath said surface, means dividing the same into cubicles extending transversely of said surface, the outer ends thereof being open with marginal flanges at the bottom and sides of each of said openings to retain contents within the cubicles, means for securing said sections together in telescoping relation, the top portions of said sections forming together a top surface of relatively great length with respect to its width, shaped to fit along the back and around the sides of the shoulders of an occupant of the chair, an upstanding peripheral rim portion on said top surface, and means for releasably securing said tray on a chair at substantially shoulder height of the occupant.

3. The combination in a beauty operators tray for use at the back of a chair, of a top portion providing a flat top surface to support objects to be used in treatment of the hair, said surface being of relatively great length with respect to width and shaped to t along the back and around the sides of the shoulders of an occupant of the chair, an upstanding peripheral rim portion on said surface extending upwardly at an angle substantially greater than with respect to said top surface to facilitate the removal of small objects therefrom, the cleaning thereof and to prevent liquid from passing from the tray into cubicles therebeneath, an arcuate box-like structure depending beneath said surface, means dividing the same into cubicles extending transversely of said surface, the outer ends of said cubicles being open, marginal flanges at the bottom and sides of each of said openings and abutting the bottom of said tray to support one edge thereof and to retain contents within the cubicles, and means for supporting said tray below the level of the neck and at substantially so that the length of the tray may be moved to l0 any of a plurality of positions for convenient use by the operator, the top portions of saidsections forming together a top surface of relatively great length with respect to its Width shaped to fit along the back and sides of an occupant of the chair, an upstanding peripheral rim portion on said top surface, and means for releasably securing said tray on a chair.

MABLE M. WOLFE.

CERTIFICATE OE CORRECTION. Patent No. 2, 265,865. November 25, 19M..

MABLE M. NCME.

It is hereby Certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correct-ion as follows: Page 2, second column, line 7l, Claim 5, strike out "and". before, sides-; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this Correction therein that the same may Conform to the record of the case in vthe Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 20th day of January,A. D. 19LL2.

Henry Van Arsdale, (Seal) y Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

